First Steps
by Erin T. Aardvark
Summary: Cyril is accidentally blinded by Bert's new camera, while Cedric and Sophia try to teach Forest how to walk.
1. Blinded By the Light, and the Flash Bulb

It all started as just a regular day. Things were quiet around the Evergreen Forest. Cedric and Sophia were out in the backyard of the Sneer mansion, trying to teach Forest how to walk. The one-year-old baby aardvark could stand on his own just fine, but walking was another matter. Sophia was holding his hands as Forest stood there, ready to get going. Cedric was a short distance away, bent down to the ground.

"Okay, Forest," he said. "Come on over."

Forest giggled, and Sophia let go of his hands. The baby took one step, and fell to the ground. Then he began whimpering a little. He couldn't take more than one step without falling. Sophia tried again. She pulled Forest to his feet, and held him steady.

"Here we go," Sophia said. "Okay, Forest, go to Daddy."

"Come to Daddy, Forest," Cedric encouraged.

Forest gurgled, and took the step as Sophia let go, but the minute he did, he fell once more. Both Cedric and Sophia sighed.

"Maybe he's just not ready," Sophia said, picking up the baby.

"Pop said I was walking when I was nine months old," Cedric said, shrugging.

"And my parents said that I was fifteen months when I started taking my first steps. And the encyclopedia says that babies usually walk without support when they're in between thirteen and fourteen months."

"Well, let's try it again."

Cedric bent down, and reached out to Forest.

"Come on, Forest," he said. "You can do it!"

Sophia set Forest on the ground, and let the baby go. Forest fell once more. They were about ready to try it again, when Bert came walking by.

"Hey Cedric!" Bert shouted.

"Hi, Bert," Cedric replied. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came by to show you my new camera," Bert said, holding up his new camera. "Smile!"

Bert hit the button, and the camera flashed. Cedric and Sophia were practically blinded. Forest burst out crying. The flash was just a bit too bright for him.

"Wow!" Sophia shouted. She picked up Forest and began comforting him. "That's one bright flash bulb!"

"Whoops," Bert said. "I'd better adjust it. So, what are you guys up to?"

"Oh, not much," Cedric said, taking off his glasses so his eyes could adjust a little. "Just trying to teach Forest how to walk."

Bert looked over at Forest who was still crying. Sophia jiggled him a little, and rubbed his back.

"I think the flash on your camera hurt his eyes," she explained. "Shh, it's okay, sweetie. It's all right. Uncle Bert didn't mean it."

"Yeah, sorry about that, little buddy," Bert said. "I promise next time I take your picture, I'll turn the flash down, deal?"

Forest hiccupped, leaned against Sophia's shoulder, and stuck his thumb in his mouth. Sophia sighed, and rubbed the baby's back a little more.

"N-A-P time," she said. "I'll see you guys a little later."

"Bye," Bert said.

"So tell me about this new camera, Bert," Cedric said, as Sophia went into the house.

"It's designed to take night pictures. That's why the flash is so intense. But you can adjust it to make it brighter than I had it a minute ago."

"You mean it gets brighter?"

"Yeah! I got it to take pictures of the fireworks on the Fourth of July party. It's still okay to hold it here in the backyard, isn't it?"

"Well, Pop agreed to it, but he didn't say he'd like it. The thing is, you get the best view of the fireworks from here."

"Come on, let's take this puppy inside and take some test pictures!"

"Just so long as you've got the flash adjusted."

Bert laughed, and he and Cedric walked into the mansion. Bert wanted to go to the darkest rooms imaginable in the place. Cedric ended up leading him to the area where Cyril's vault was. That hallway was the darkest in the entire mansion. He and Bert saw Cyril sitting in the vault, counting his money, which was mostly in gold. Bert smiled sneakily.

"Oh this'll be a blast!" he laughed. "A great shot of your dad counting his cash!"

"I don't know, Bert," Cedric said, hesitantly. "Pop doesn't like to be bothered while he's in his vault."

"Come on, it'll be fun," Bert said. Before Cedric could protest, Bert adjusted the flash on his camera, and held it up.

"Hey Cyril!" he shouted. Then he began singing. "Smile! You're on Candid Camera!"

"Huh?" Cyril asked, looking up.

Before anything else could happen, Bert pushed the shutter button, and snapped the picture, but he had adjusted the flash the wrong way. A blazing light filled the room and reflected off all the gold coins in the room.

"AAARRRRGGGHHH!" Cyril screeched.

"Ooh!" Cedric yelled, shielding his eyes.

"Man, that's bright!" Bert yelled, covering his own eyes.

"What's going on?" Sophia asked, as she ran down. The Pigs were right behind her.

"We heard a scream," Lloyd said.

"What's that light?" Floyd asked.

Finally, the light subsided. Everyone rubbed their eyes, and looked around, adjusting to everything.

"What just happened?" Lloyd asked.

"I, uhh, I adjusted the flash the wrong way," Bert said, sheepishly.

"Pop, are you all right?" Cedric asked, as he and Sophia raced into the vault.

"Fine, I'm fine," Cyril said. "Or at least I will be once you turn on the lights."

"Uhh, the lights are already on, Pop."

"Are they? Well . . . . what time is it, anyway?"

"Almost eleven o' clock."

"At night?"

"It's still daytime Pop."

"It's daytime, and all the lights are on?"

"Yeah. Is something wrong Pop?"

Cyril looked all around his vault, turning desperately to at least have a small glimpse of something familiar. But all he could see was darkness.

"Cedric," he said, a little nervously. "I'm . . . . I'm blind."


	2. Coping

Everyone stood there in complete shock. No one could believe the words that just came out of Cyril's mouth.

"Wait a minute, Pop," Cedric said. "Maybe your eyes just need to adjust a little more than ours did."

"I don't think so," Cyril said.

Cedric and Sophia glanced at each other. They didn't know what to do, or say. The Pigs, however, raced forward.

"Come on, sir!" Lloyd shouted. "We'll get you to a doctor, and sort this whole thing out!"

"Good idea," Cyril said. He started walking forward, but ended up smacking into the wall.

"Ooh!" he shouted. "Where's the door?"

"To the left, Pop," Cedric said. "I'll go with you."

"Wait for me!" Sophia called. "I'm coming, too!"

"I'll, uhh, watch Forest for you guys," Bert said.

Cedric and Sophia nodded, and then left with Cyril and the Pigs. They were lucky enough to see Cyril's doctor, Dr. Canard, without a long wait.

"Well, they say the first thing to go is the eyesight," Dr. Canard said. "And you are up there in years, Mr. Sneer, however, I always thought it was sort of a gradual loss."

"This has nothing to do with my age!" Cyril shouted. "One of those stupid Raccoons had a camera with a flash as bright as Times Square on New Year's Eve and snapped a photo of me in my vault!"

"The flash reflected off Pop's money, and the light was blinding," Cedric said.

"Literally," Cyril said. "So, doc, how long will it take before I get my sight back?"

"Well . . . ." Dr. Canard said, a little hesitantly. "Uhh, I don't really know how to tell you this, Mr. Sneer, but there's a good chance that this will be . . . . permanent."

"What!" Cyril shouted. "Permanent! How sure are you about that!"

"It's a fifty-fifty chance, Mr. Sneer. I can't be entirely too sure if this will be permanent or temporary."

"What about laser surgery?"

"Very risky. You'd get the same odds I just gave you of it being successful."

"I see. So what am I supposed to do in the meantime!"

"Just go on with your normal, every day routine, or as normal as you can."

"We'll help you, Pop," Cedric said.

"Help?" Cyril asked. "What do you take me for, Cedric? An invalid? I don't need any kind of help whatsoever! So I've lost my sight. Big deal! I can function without it!"

Cyril got up, and started out the door, but he ended up hitting the wall again.

WHACK!

"To the left, Pop," Cedric said.

"Thanks, Cedric," Cyril said. He moved left a little, and left the office. Cedric and Sophia raced after him, to make sure he didn't hurt himself on the way back to the mansion.

The Pigs trailed behind, still a little surprised from the news.

"Gee, the boss without his sight," Floyd said. "That's a little surprising."

"Yeah, but you know what it means?" Lloyd asked. "It means we can have a little fun! You know how the boss keeps promising us a raise?"

"Yeah?" Floyd and Boyd asked in unison.

"Well, now might be the chance to get it!" Lloyd shouted.

"Isn't that taking advantage of the boss?" Floyd asked.

"Why not?" Boyd asked. "He's been taking advantage of us all these years! I say let's do it!"

And with that, the Pigs raced back to the mansion.

Once Cyril returned to the mansion, he was ready to get to work. Although he kept walking right into the walls instead of the doors, and bumping into nearly everything imaginable.

"I'll get the door for you, Mr. Sneer," Sophia offered.

"I can get it myself!" Cyril protested. "I don't need help from the likes of you, Sofa Girl!"

"Umm, she's standing behind you, Pop," Cedric said.

"Oh," Cyril said.

This was going to take some getting used to. Cyril was about to go into his office, when Bert came down the stairs.

"Hey, how did it go at the doctors?" he asked.

"What's he still doing here?!" Cyril shouted.

"He was watching the baby," Sophia said.

"Well, if he doesn't get out of my sight, I'm gonna wring his neck!" Cyril shouted.

"How can I get out of your sight if you can't see anything, anyway?" Bert asked.

"Bert!" Cedric and Sophia shouted in unison.

"Why you little . . . ." Cyril started. He lunged at Bert, but accidentally ran into a table, and fell over it.

CRASH!

"Pop!" Cedric shouted.

"Mr. Sneer, are you all right?" Sophia asked, as she and Cedric helped Cyril to his feet.

"I'm fine!" Cyril shouted, shaking Cedric and Sophia off of him. "I can manage this by myself, thank you very much!"

And with that, Cyril stormed into his office, but not before running into the door first, thinking it was open.

WHACK!

Cyril grumbled, opened the door, stormed into his office, and slammed it shut. The noise woke up the baby, who had been napping upstairs since the Sneers and the Pigs left for the Dr. Canard's office.

"I'll go take care of Forest," Cedric said.

"I'll go home before your dad comes out of there," Bert said, and he raced out of the Sneer mansion as fast as he could.

After a few moments, the Pigs walked into Cyril's office. They found their employer sitting at his desk, and drumming his fingers on it.

"Excuse us for interrupting, sir," Lloyd said. "But these documents need your signature right away!"

"Oh all right," Cyril grumbled. He began to search for a pen on the desk, but Boyd handed him one instead.

"Here you are, sir," he said. "We'll hold them up to where you need to sign them."

"And all you have to provide is your John Hancock," Floyd said.

Cyril began putting his signature on the documents the Pigs were holding, but as he signed, he began to wonder something.

"What am I signing, anyway?" he asked.

"Oh you know," Lloyd said. "Standard contracts. A little of this, a little of that."

"But mostly this," Boyd muttered to Floyd, as he pulled out a check for five thousand dollars that Cyril had just signed, only he didn't know about it yet.

In the meantime, Bert was telling Ralph, Melissa, Schafer, and Broo about what just happened.

"I knew you shouldn't have bought that camera, Bert," Melissa said. "I told you the flash was too powerful!"

"Okay, so I goofed," Bert said, shrugging. "How was I supposed to know this was going to happen?"

"So how's Cyril taking the news?" Ralph asked.

"Not so good," Bert said. "Although it's kinda funny to see him walking into the walls!"

"Bert, that's not funny," Melissa said.

"Sorry," Bert said.

"Do you think he'll get his sight back?" Schafer asked.

"I guess only time will tell," Ralph said with a shrug.

The others nodded, but they couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen to Cyril, and how he was going to cope.


	3. Business As Usual

In the coming weeks, Cyril managed to cope with his blindness very well, much to everyone's surprise. Just so long as no one but the Raccoons, Cedric, Sophia, Schafer, Broo, and the Pigs knew about it, he was fine with it. Being completely stubborn, though, he still refused help from anyone, and as a result, kept running into the walls.

On the morning of the Fourth of July, Cedric and Sophia were in the kitchen, making plans for the party they were throwing that night. Forest was sitting in his highchair, making a mess out of the applesauce Cedric had given him for breakfast. He took a handful of it, and threw it on the floor. Snag was upstairs, so he didn't come along to lick it up like he usually did. Forest then took another handful of applesauce and flung it. It landed right in Cedric's face, covering his glasses.

SPLAT!

"Forest," Cedric said, sternly. He took off his glasses and gave the baby a look.

Forest clapped his hands and giggled. Sophia sighed, stood up, and began wiping the baby's face with his bib. It was at that moment when Cyril came into the kitchen. Or at least tried to. He ended up walking into the doorframe first.

WHACK!

"Ow!" he shouted.

"Morning, Pop," Cedric said.

"Yeah," Cyril replied, coming into the kitchen. "Right, whatever."

"Mr. Sneer, you might want to walk around the other way because . . . ." Sophia started.

"I don't need any help from you!" Cyril shouted before she could finish. But he should have let her finish her sentence, because she was trying to warn him about the blob of applesauce that Forest had thrown on the floor. Unfortunately, Cyril stepped right onto it, and slipped.

"YIKES!" he shouted as he fell to the floor.

"Pop, are you all right?" Cedric asked.

"What was that on the floor?" Cyril said.

"Applesauce," Sophia said. "Umm, Forest threw it on the floor."

"As always," Cyril groaned as he got up.

The day went on as it usually did. It wasn't until later in the afternoon when the party got started. Everyone was in the backyard of the Sneer mansion. Cedric was doing the barbecuing, Ralph and Bert were tossing a baseball back and forth, Schafer was throwing a Frisbee and Broo was running around fetching it, and Sophia and Melissa were working on getting Forest to walk.

"Come on, Forest!" Melissa encouraged. "Come to Auntie Melissa!"

"You can do it, sweetie," Sophia said. "Ready? Okay, go!"

Sophia let go, and, as usual, Forest crash landed the minute he took a step. He stood up and tried it again, but with the same results. He tried it once more, and crashed again. That was when he burst into tears. Sophia picked him up and held him for a few moments.

"Maybe we should try this later," she said.

"Good idea," Melissa replied.

Sophia was about to take Forest inside for a nap when they passed Cyril, who was just laying in a lounge chair, doing nothing. Forest tried to get out of his mommy's grip and get to his grandpa. He began to whimper a little as he did so.

"That the baby?" Cyril asked.

"Yep," Sophia said. "I think he wants to spend time with you."

"Fine," Cyril said. "I've got nothing better to do anyway."

Sophia set Forest on Cyril's stomach, and then went back to the others. Forest crawled around a little, and finally climbed off the chair. He grabbed Cyril's hand, and began to pull on it, as if he wanted his grandpa to get up and play.

"Not now, Forest," Cyril said. "I don't want to get up."

Forest let go of Cyril's hand, and just sat by the chair, pulling blades of grass out of the lawn. Then he pulled himself to his feet, leaned against the chair, and looked at Cyril expectantly. Cyril didn't even notice. Lloyd came over a few moments later, with some papers.

"Sir, we hate to bother you," Lloyd said.

"Then don't!" Cyril yelled. "What do you want anyway!"

"These need your signature right away."

"Fine."

Lloyd handed Cyril the papers and a pen, and Cyril signed them (some of the documents happened to be some checks for the Pigs). Once he was done, he practically threw the documents back at Lloyd.

"Here!" he shouted. But what he didn't know was Forest was standing right there, and Cyril had accidentally given him a good whack right in the nose. Forest stumbled backwards, landed on his bottom, and let out an extremely loud shriek.

"What? What happened?" Cyril asked.

"What happened?" Cedric asked as he and Sophia raced over.

"He just hit the baby in the face," Lloyd said.

"Oh, Forest," Sophia said, picking up the baby. She began to comfort him.

"I didn't see him," Cyril said, shrugging. "Honestly, I had no idea he was there!"

"I know, Pop," Cedric said. "It was just an accident."

"Is he okay?" Bert asked.

"Yeah, he'll be fine," Sophia said. "He's just a little surprised, that's all."

A few hours went by, and it was time for the fireworks. Bert's new camera really came in handy to get good pictures of the fireworks. There were only two people there who weren't enjoying them, and those were Cyril and Forest. Forest didn't like the loud noise the fireworks made when they exploded. And, due to Cyril's eyesight being gone, his hearing was a little sharper, and the fireworks exploding sounded like miniature sonic booms.

"I'm going back inside," he grumbled. "This noise is killing me!"

"Do you want some help, Pop?" Cedric asked.

"No!" Cyril yelled. "I can get back inside myself!"

And with that, Cyril started to go across the yard to the back door. On the way, he tripped over the lawn chair. Once he pulled himself to his feet, he smacked into the picnic table, and the bench, and ended up landing flat on his stomach. Then he got up again, and continued on his way. He finally stepped on Forest's duck pull toy, and slid right into the wall of the house.

WHAM!

"Ooohhhh," Bert and Ralph cringed.

"Pop!" Cedric shouted, running over. "Pop, are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Cyril grumbled.

"That was some crash, Mr. Sneer," Sophia said.

"Here, Cyril," Bert said, as he, Ralph, and Melissa came over. "We'll help you."

"Get away from me!" Cyril shouted, waving off everyone. "All of you! I don't need any help from any of you!"

"Come on, Cyril," Bert said. "If you don't let us help you, you'll probably end up killing yourself."

"I don't need any help!" Cyril yelled. "Especially not from you! You were the one who caused this mess! Now get out of my way!"

Everyone stepped aside. Cyril fumbled around a bit, looking for the doorknob. Once he found it, he threw the door open, stormed inside, and slammed it shut. He had enough of everyone fussing over him.


	4. Dinner Disaster

As the days went on, Cyril was starting to get the hang of his blindness. Of course, he still refused to have any help from the others, but he was getting better at avoiding walking into walls. Unfortunately, disaster was about to strike. As usual, Cedric and Sophia were working on getting Forest to walk, and Cyril was just sitting around, listening in.

"Okay, Forest," Cedric said, holding the baby's hands. "You can do it. Just some short little steps to Mommy."

"Come on, sweetie," Sophia said, holding her arms open to Forest. "Come to Mommy."

Cedric let go, and Forest tried to get moving, but he ended up (as usual) crashing. Both Cedric and Sophia sighed.

"I don't think he's ever going to get the hang of this," Cedric said, picking up the baby.

"At least not for awhile," Sophia replied.

"Gee, what a shame," Cyril replied, a little distantly. He didn't want to admit it, but he was a little upset that he wouldn't be able to see Forest's first steps, even if the blindness was only temporary. He was afraid that even though he would get his sight back, he would miss a major milestone in his grandson's life. But he didn't say anything about it.

As Cedric and Sophia set Forest up again, the Pigs came into the room with the day's mail.

"Mail call, sir!" Lloyd shouted.

"Not more bills, I hope," Cyril grumbled. "I've got enough things to worry about."

"Well, some," Lloyd said. "But there's something interesting here."

"What is it?"

"An invitation to a party. Lady Baden Baden is throwing a dinner party to show off this vase she just got, and you, and Cedric and Sophia are all invited."

"Oh no! No! Count me out! I am not going! I am not about to have Knox see me like this!"

"Are you sure, Pop?" Cedric asked, looking at the invitation. "It might not matter. You've been doing okay with your business so far without your sight, and no one's really noticed. Maybe Mr. Knox won't notice, either."

"If I know Knox, he'll notice," Cyril said. "Besides, somebody's got to watch the baby."

"We could do that," Lloyd said. "We've done it before."

"And you lost him in the process!" Cyril shouted. "The three of you are never baby-sitting Forest again!"

"We could call Ralph, or Melissa, or Bert," Sophia suggested.

"But they'll probably be invited to the party, too," Cedric said.

"Exactly," Cyril said. "The two of you go. I'll stay here."

And that was all there was to it, until the night before the dinner party. Cedric and Sophia were about to leave for it. Cyril was sitting on the living room sofa with Forest on his lap, waiting for them to go.

"It's too bad you don't want to come with us, Pop," Cedric said.

"Yeah, too bad," Cyril said.

"We'll give Lady Baden Baden your regards."

"Yeah, you do that."

"And we'll tell Mr. Wallace about your business."

"Yeah fine."

Cyril didn't realize what Cedric had just said until a few moments later. He put Forest on the sofa, shot to his feet, and ran over to his son, accidentally running into the wall again.

"Wait a minute!" he shouted, just as he smashed into the wall. "Ow!"

"Are you okay, Pop?" Cedric asked.

"Fine, fine," Cyril said, straightening out his nose. "I've been meaning to get a nose job, anyway. Did you just say that a Mr. Wallace is going to be there? As in Mr. Douglas Wallace, owner of Wallace Incorporated?"

"Yeah," Cedric replied. "Why?"

"I've been trying to do business with him for years!" Cyril shouted. "I'm going to this party!"

"But what about the baby?" Sophia asked.

"I'll leave him with the Pigs," Cyril said.

"I thought you told them never to baby-sit again," Cedric said.

"Good point," Cyril said. Then he thought it over. "I got it! I'll leave him with the Pigs, and then I'll tell them to call their mother!"

And that was that. The Pigs agreed to call in their mother to baby-sit for Forest while Cyril went to Lady Baden Baden's dinner party with Cedric and Sophia.

Lady Baden Baden's place was packed with the social elite of the Evergreen Forest. Cedric's hunch about the Raccoons being there was right. Bert, Ralph, and Melissa were around, taking pictures for the newspaper.

"Now remember," Cyril muttered to Cedric and Sophia. "Not one word about me being blind to Knox! You got me?"

"Sure, Pop," Cedric said. "Not one word."

"We promise we won't say a thing," Sophia said.

At that moment, Lady Baden Baden and Mr. Knox walked over with a well dressed walrus.

"Ah Mr. Sneer!" Lady Baden Baden shouted. "So good of you and your family to come to see my priceless vase!"

(Incidentally, Lady Baden Baden pronounced the word as "vahz")

"Yes, good to be here," Cyril replied.

"Why are you wearing those dark glasses?" Lady Baden Baden asked. "You look terribly tacky."

"Well, ahh, I like being tacky at times," Cyril said.

"So I've noticed," Mr. Knox said. "Mr. Sneer, I'd like to introduce to you Mr. Douglas Wallace of Wallace Incorporated. He's been doing business with me."

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Wallace," Cyril said. He reached out and grabbed what he thought was Mr. Wallace's hand, but it was the branch of a plant. Cedric and Sophia wanted to say something, but they had promised Cyril they wouldn't say a word about him being visually impaired to Mr. Knox.

"Mr. Sneer, you're shaking hands with my fichus," Mr. Knox said, giving Cyril a strange look.

"I . . . . meant to do that," Cyril said. "Little joke there. Heh, heh."

"Well, no matter," Lady Baden Baden said. "Time for dinner. This way!"

Once Lady Baden Baden and Mr. Knox (and Mr. Wallace, for that matter) were out of earshot (or so when Cyril thought they were), he leaned over to Cedric and Sophia.

"Why didn't you tell me I was shaking hands with a plant?" he hissed.

"We promised to keep our mouths shut," Cedric said.

"Never mind! Just get me to the table, and make sure I don't hit anything!"

"Right, Pop."

Cedric and Sophia led Cyril to the dining room table, and he managed to sit down without any problems.

"Hey Cedric," Bert said. "How's it going?"

"Not easy," Cedric replied. "Oh do me a favor, Bert. Don't let on that Pop's blind. He doesn't want Mr. Knox to know."

"Gotcha," Bert said, nodding. Then he leaned over to tell Ralph and Melissa not to let Mr. Knox know about Cyril's blindness. They agreed to keep quiet.

Dinner was pretty much normal. Cyril managed to get through the first course without any problems. And he seemed to impress Mr. Wallace as he talked about his business. Disaster didn't strike until the second course.

"Oh Mr. Sneer," Lady Baden Baden said. "Be a dear and pass me the salt, would you?"

"Salt?" Cyril asked. "No problem. Let's see here . . . ."

Cyril reached for the salt, but ended up knocking over his wine glass, and spilling red wine all over the white table cloth.

"Oh!" Lady Baden Baden cried out. "My grandmother's best table cloth!"

"What'd I do?" Cyril whispered to Cedric.

"Spilled wine on the table cloth," Cedric said, with a slight grimace. "Red wine on the white table cloth."

"Ah heh, heh," Cyril said, nervously. "Sorry about that, Lady Baden Baden. Just send me the bill. Now let's see . . . . where's the salt . . . ."

"To the left, Pop," Cedric said.

"Thank you," Cyril said, reaching for the salt. Unfortunately, he went the wrong way, and knocked over Sophia's wine glass. Red wine spilled all over the front of her dress. She let out a scream, and shot to her feet.

"Your other left, Pop!" Cedric shouted, a bit exasperated.

"What now?" Cyril asked.

"Spilled the wine again. This time on Sophia."

"Oh. Well . . . . what color is she wearing?"

"Red."

"It'll blend in."

"Is there a problem, Mr. Sneer?" Mr. Knox asked. "You seem to be a little disoriented tonight."

"Maybe a little too much drinking over the h'ors deourves," Cyril said. "Now, where in the world is the salt?"

Cyril felt around the table for a moment or so, until he felt one of the shakers. He smiled, and picked it up.

"Ah ha!" he shouted.

"That's pepper, Mr. Sneer," Sophia said.

"I'll pass Lady Baden Baden the salt," Cedric said. He grabbed the salt shaker and gave it to Lady Baden Baden.

Cyril wanted to disappear. Even though he couldn't see them, he could feel everyone staring at him as if he were completely crazy.

After dessert, Lady Baden Baden showed off her vase. It was large, painted orange, with big, bright pink flowers and olive green leaves painted on it. It was the ugliest thing Cedric, Sophia, and the Raccoons had ever seen in their lives.

"There are only three of these vases in the world," Lady Baden Baden said. "Mr. Knox and I were lucky enough to find it!"

"I can honestly say I've never seen anything quite like that vase," Cyril said.

"You should count yourself lucky, Cyril," Bert muttered to him. "That's the ugliest vase I've ever seen in my life."

"Go take a closer look at it, Mr. Sneer," Mr. Knox said. "It really is quite fascinating."

Cyril shrugged and walked forward to get a better look at the vase sitting on the pedestal. But he was heading too close for it. Cedric, Sophia, and the Raccoons wanted to say something, but they promised to keep their mouths shut. Finally, Bert couldn't take it.

"Cyril, watch it!" he shouted.

"What?" Cyril asked, just as he ran smack into the podium. The vase fell from it, and crashed to the ground, smashing into a hundred pieces.

"Oh no!" Sophia shouted.

"Don't tell me," Cyril grumbled. "I broke the vase, didn't I?"

"Mr. Sneer, what is the matter with you?!" Mr. Knox shouted. "That was a priceless vase you just broke! You act as if you were blind or something!"

"That's because he is," Bert said. "Oops!"

"Nice going, Bert," Ralph said, sarcastically.

The silence was practically deafening. Cyril slapped his hand to his forehead, stood up, and started walking away.

"Well, Lady Baden Baden," he said. "Thank you for a lovely evening. Just send me the bill for the table cloth and the vase, and I'll take care of them."

Cyril walked to the door, and went outside. Cedric and Sophia raced after him.

"Pop, wait!" Cedric shouted.

"Leave me alone, Cedric!" Cyril shouted. "I can find my own way back home! I don't need any of you!"

Cyril stepped into the road. Both Cedric and Sophia grabbed him by the arms and held him back.

"Let go of me!" Cyril shouted. "I'm warning you!"

Before anything else could happen, a truck came down the road, and it would have hit Cyril if he had gone into the road. Cyril had heard it, and stopped cold.

"Pop, listen to me," Cedric said. "You can't walk all the way home by yourself. You'll get hurt!"

"Maybe you're right, Cedric," Cyril said. "If you two hadn't stopped me, I could have been killed."

And with that, Cyril let Cedric and Sophia lead him home. For the next couple of days, Cyril spent most of his time laying around doing nothing, except wallowing in self pity. Cedric and Sophia weren't sure what to make of this.

"Pop, you can't just sit around and do nothing all day," Cedric said. "You've got a business to run."

"How can I run a business without my sight?" Cyril asked.

"You were doing fine before."

"Forget it, Cedric, it's over."

Cyril got up, and began wandering around. Cedric sighed. He didn't like to see his father like this, but there wasn't all that much he could do about it.

That night, Cyril wandered past the nursery. He heard Sophia inside, reading to Forest.

"And so, Cinderella and the handsome prince were married," she read out of the book she was holding. "And they lived happily ever after. The end."

"Putting the baby to bed?" Cyril asked.

"Yeah, the usual night time ritual," Sophia said with a nod, even though she knew Cyril couldn't see it.

"Would you mind if I tried to put the baby to bed?"

"If you want to."

"Don't worry about me tripping over something. Just clear a path to the crib. I know the room like the back of my hand. I spend enough time in here, anyway."

Sophia handed the baby to Cyril, cleared some of the toys off the floor, and put them in the toy box.

"All set," she said.

Cyril then walked forward, one arm tightly holding Forest, while the other was outstretched so he could find the crib without bumping into it while holding the baby. Once he found it, he gently put Forest into it, and tucked him in.

"You have it easy, Forest," he said, feeling around for Forest's ears. He found one of them, and began rubbing it between his thumb and index finger.

"It doesn't matter to you that I can't see," he continued. "But it's a real pain in the neck."

Forest giggled. He didn't understand what his grandpa was telling him, but Cyril didn't really care. Forest reached up and grabbed Cyril's hand. He pulled on it a little, and then gave it a kiss. Cyril sort of smiled, and patted the baby on the head.

"Goodnight, Forest," he said.

Cyril reached up, and turned on Forest's mobile. Then he left the room, thinking to himself.

"What am I so down about anyway?" he said. "I managed to run my business while blind before everyone found out. I'm sure I can do it again!"


	5. Major Milestones

The next day, Cedric found Cyril in his office, talking on the phone to someone. He stopped and looked in.

"What should it matter that I can't see, Mr. Wallace?" Cyril asked. "I've managed to carry the business on without it before the dinner party at Lady Baden Baden's. I did it then, and I can do it now."

There was a slight pause. Cyril kept nodding. Finally, he stood up.

"Good," he said. "We'll discuss the merger at a later time."

And with that, Cyril hung up the phone, and started out of his office, but not before he ran into Cedric.

"Hi, Pop," Cedric said. "What are you doing?"

"Just tying up some loose business ends, Cedric," Cyril said. "I've decided if I carried on the business before the dinner party, then I can do it now."

And with that, Cyril started to go into the kitchen. Cedric followed him. Sophia and Forest were already in the kitchen. Forest was throwing his Cheerios on the floor, and Snag was eating them up, as usual. When Cyril walked in, he felt like he was walking on dry cereal, and it was crunching under his feet. He sighed.

"Forest throwing his food again?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Sneer, I don't know why he does it," Sophia said.

"I think he thinks he's feeding the dog," Cedric said with a shrug.

"Probably," Cyril replied. "Well, I've got work to do, so if you'll excuse me . . . ."

With that, Cyril walked out of the kitchen. He bumped into the wall on the way out, but took it in stride this time. He had a feeling he was still probably going to be hitting the walls for quite some time.

A few days went by. Cyril's business was doing a little better than it had been, due to Cyril's new found confidence. The Pigs were still trying to weasel money out of their employer without him knowing it, and they were pretty successful in doing so. They just never told Cyril what it was that he was signing.

One night, Cyril, Cedric, and Sophia were all gathered in the den, not really doing much of anything. Cedric and Sophia were reading, and Cyril was listening to the TV, with Forest sitting in his lap. He didn't even notice that the lights were flickering, but Cedric and Sophia did.

"Why are the lights flickering?" Sophia asked.

"My guess is that the Pigs are overloading the circuits again," Cyril said. "Come on, Cedric. I need to go give them a talking to, again, and you need to make sure I don't kill myself on the way downstairs."

"Sure, Pop," Cedric said.

Sophia took the baby, as Cyril and Cedric got up and walked over to the basement door. With Cedric's help, Cyril managed to make it downstairs without tripping and falling. He heard the hum of the Pigs' many electrical appliances coming from their quarters.

"I oughta turn 'em into bacon bits," he grumbled. "They're always using up my electricity for their junk! Well I'll show them. I'll turn the electricity off, and then we'll see what happens! You stay here, Cedric!"

"Are you sure, Pop?" Cedric asked.

"I know where the power switch is already, Cedric! I don't need any help now."

"Okay, if you insist."

Cyril walked along the hallway until he reached the power switch. Or so he thought. He grabbed the switch, snickered, and then gave it a good yank. The power went out, all right, but not before sending a few volts of electricity through Cyril. He let out a deafening scream.

"Pop!" Cedric shouted.

"What's happening?" Lloyd asked, as he and his brothers ran out of their quarters.

Finally, all the lights went out, and Cyril fell to the floor, unconscious. Sophia raced down the stairs, wondering what happened.

"I heard a scream and then all the lights went out!" she shouted. "What's going on?"

"Pop's been electrocuted!" Cedric shouted. "Somebody go call an ambulance!"

The Pigs ran off to find a phone. It didn't take long for the ambulance to come, but to Cedric, it seemed to take a lifetime. It also seemed like a long wait in the hospital's waiting room. At one point, Bert, Ralph, and Melissa ran in.

"Cedric!" Melissa shouted. "Sophia told us what happened. Is your father all right?"

"I don't know yet," Cedric said, nervously.

"All I want to know is what in the world was he thinking!" Bert shouted.

"He was trying to turn off the electricity, and I think he pulled the wrong switch," Cedric said. "He couldn't see which one it was."

After five more minutes (though the wait seemed longer), Dr. Canard came out of the examining room.

"I have good news," he said. "Your father's going to be just fine, Cedric. He just got himself a good shock to the system."

"What a relief," Ralph said.

"Can I go see him, doctor?" Cedric asked.

"Not tonight," Dr. Canard said. "Cyril's been through a lot, and I'd like him to get some rest now."

Cedric understood. He and the Raccoons left the hospital then. The next morning, the group dropped by the hospital to see how Cyril was doing. He was still asleep when they walked in, so they just stood around, waiting. After a few minutes, Cyril began to stir. He groaned, and slowly opened his eyes, although everything was a little blurry.

"Pop?" Cedric asked. "Are you all right?"

"Cedric?" Cyril asked. "Is that you? You look kind of fuzzy."

"How are you feeling, Cyril?" Melissa asked.

"Fine, fine," Cyril said, squinting. "Although everything's just one huge blur."

Cyril blinked his eyes a couple of times, and then, his eyes began to adjust a bit. Things were still a little blurry, but he could make out Cedric, Sophia, and the Raccoons a little easier now.

"Ahh, that's better," he said. "Everything's not as blurry."

"Well, that's good," Cedric said, then he realized something. "Pop? Did you say everything looked blurry?"

"Yeah, why?" Cyril asked, but then he realized that Cedric didn't need to answer that question. The others realized something, too.

"Cyril, you've got your sight back!" Ralph shouted. "How did it happen?"

"Something must have triggered when Pop got electrocuted," Cedric said.

"I don't care how it happened," Cyril said. "I'm just glad it happened! Now maybe everything can get back to normal around here!"

A few days later, Cyril was released from the hospital, and he found out what the Pigs had been making him sign during the time he was sightless. And he wasn't at all happy with them.

"WHY YOU MISERABLE, OVERGROWN PORK RINDS!" he screamed at the top of his voice. "WAIT'LL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU! I'M GONNA TURN YOU INTO PORK CHOPS!"

"I think now's a good time to go visit Mom!" Lloyd shouted.

"Good idea!" Floyd shouted.

"Let's get out of here!" Boyd yelled, and the three Pigs raced out of the mansion as fast as they possibly could.

Cyril watched them leave, seething. He finally calmed down, and went to go cancel those checks he had written to the Pigs. He was glad that they hadn't had a chance to cash them in yet. Once he was done with that, he walked off. He passed the living room, and saw Cedric and Sophia still trying to get Forest to walk. The Raccoons were there as well, watching. Bert was taking pictures, but with a different camera. After what happened, Melissa made him return it to the store. Ralph had a video camera, and he was recording.

"Confident that today's the day he's gonna take his first steps, huh?" Cyril asked.

"You never know," Bert said. "Okay, little buddy, we're all rooting for ya!"

Sophia let go of Forest's hands, and he took a step. Then, as usual, he crashed right to the floor. Everyone groaned.

"I give up," Cedric said. "He's just not ready."

Cyril shrugged, and started to walk away. Forest didn't want him to go yet, so he pulled himself up to his feet, and then took one step forward. Then he took another, and another, and another.

"Hey," Bert said. "Hey, Cedric! Sophia! Look at this!"

Cedric, Sophia, Ralph, and Melissa turned to look, and saw what Bert was talking about. Forest was walking! He was actually walking!

"I don't believe it!" Cedric shouted. "Hey Pop! Look!"

"What?" Cyril asked, as he turned around. Then he saw Forest, toddling towards him, arms held up to him.

Ralph held up his video camera and began recording the whole thing for posterity. Bert kept snapping pictures right and left. Cyril bent down, and scooped up Forest the minute he walked over.

"Atta boy, Forest!" he shouted.

"You did it, Forest, you did it!" Sophia shouted.

Everyone began to praise Forest just then. The baby giggled, and clapped his hands. Then he snuggled into Cyril's shoulder, and gave him a hug.

"Gampa," he said.

Everyone stared at Forest wide eyed, like they couldn't believe what just came out of his mouth.

"Did you get that on tape?" Cedric asked Ralph.

"I sure did," Ralph said. "How do you like that? Two major milestones for Forest in one day! His first steps, _and_ his first word!"

Sophia ran off to get the baby book so she could write down what just happened. The others began to crowd around Cyril and the baby, congratulating Forest.

"See that?" Cyril said. "You're quite the celebrity today, Forest, my boy!"

Forest yawned, and stuck his thumb in his mouth. He leaned against Cyril's shoulder again, sleepily.

"Okay, even celebrities need their sleep," Cyril said. "Nap time for you."

And with that, Cyril carried Forest up the stairs and into the nursery. He put the baby in his crib, tucked him in, and turned on his mobile.

"Thanks for waiting until I got my sight back before you started walking," he said, patting Forest on the head. "You know, you're quite a kid. Goodnight, Forest."

Cyril closed the blinds, and then left the room. He didn't think his life could get any better than this.

The End


End file.
